Live Broadcast on an Online Social Network

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a method includes sending, to a social-networking system, information to initiate a live-broadcast session for distribution of a media stream using the social-networking system. The method also includes capturing an incoming media stream in association with the live-broadcast session, generating an outgoing media stream based on the incoming media stream, and sending the outgoing media stream to the social-networking system. The method also includes providing information to display a user interface associated with the live-broadcast session, where the user interface includes a visual representation associated with the outgoing media stream.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to providing live-broadcast service onan online social network.

BACKGROUND

A social-networking system, which may include a social-networkingwebsite, may enable its users (such as persons or organizations) tointeract with it and with each other through it. The social-networkingsystem may, with input from a user, create and store in thesocial-networking system a user profile associated with the user. Theuser profile may include demographic information, communication-channelinformation, and information on personal interests of the user. Thesocial-networking system may also, with input from a user, create andstore a record of relationships of the user with other users of thesocial-networking system, as well as provide services (e.g., wall posts,photo-sharing, event organization, messaging, games, or advertisements)to facilitate social interaction between or among users.

The social-networking system may send over one or more networks contentor messages related to its services to a mobile or other computingdevice of a user. A user may also install software applications on amobile or other computing device of the user for accessing a userprofile of the user and other data within the social-networking system.The social-networking system may generate a personalized set of contentobjects to display to a user, such as a newsfeed of aggregated storiesof other users connected to the user.

A mobile computing device—such as a smartphone, tablet computer, orlaptop computer—may include functionality for determining its location,direction, or orientation, such as a GPS receiver, compass, gyroscope,or accelerometer. Such a device may also include functionality forwireless communication, such as BLUETOOTH communication, near-fieldcommunication (NFC), or infrared (IR) communication or communicationwith a wireless local area networks (WLANs) or cellular-telephonenetwork. Such a device may also include one or more cameras, scanners,touchscreens, microphones, or speakers. Mobile computing devices mayalso execute software applications, such as games, web browsers, orsocial-networking applications. With social-networking applications,users may connect, communicate, and share information with other usersin their social networks.

SUMMARY OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may implement alive-broadcast service allowing a user to broadcast a media stream toone or more other users. The live-broadcast service may distribute themedia stream in a live-broadcast session that allows one or more viewingusers to react to the media stream and communicate with the broadcastinguser in real time. This may create, for the viewing users, a sense ofpresence at a “scene” associated with the live broadcast session or afeeling of being at the same time and place as the broadcasting user.The ability of the social-networking system in steadily and smoothlyreceive the media stream from a client system of the broadcasting userand distribute the media stream to client systems of the viewing usersis essential to such sense of presence. A disruption to the distributionof the media stream or a lowering of its quality may be harmful to userexperience. The ability of the social-networking system to sustain alive-broadcast session may be limited by network connectivity status(e.g., bandwidth, network type, data usage transfer limit, stability)associated with the client systems of the broadcasting and viewingusers. Given particular network connectivity status, thesocial-networking system may be capable of distributing media stream inparticular formats (e.g., audio) with higher quality than media streamin other formats (e.g., video) because the transmission of the formermedia stream is less resource-consuming than the latter. In particularembodiments, the social-networking system may allow a broadcasting orviewing user to choose a format of the media stream to be broadcasted.Additionally or alternatively, a service may be provided toautomatically determine a format of the media stream based at least inpart on the network connectivity status. This service may be implementedat the social-networking system or one or more client systems associatedwith one or more users. Such functionalities may enhance the stabilityand quality of media streams distributed by the live-broadcast serviceand accordingly improve user experience in using the service.

In particular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may distribute amedia stream in an audio format as a fallback option for an existinglive-broadcast session showing the media stream in a video format. Inresponse to a broadcasting user's request for a live-broadcast sessionin a video format, the client system associated with the broadcastinguser may capture a video stream associated with the broadcasting userand send this video stream to the social-networking system. The videostream may comprise both video and audio data and provide a viewing usera combined visual and acoustic experience. The social-networking systemmay distribute this video stream to the client systems of one or moreviewing users. During the live broadcast session, the social-networkingsystem or one or more of the client systems may continuously detect anetwork connectivity status of one or more of the client systems. Basedon detection of the network connectivity status, the video stream may bechanged to an audio stream. As an example and not by way of limitation,if a bandwidth of a network connected to by the broadcasting user'sclient system falls below a threshold bandwidth needed for smoothlysending the video stream from the client system to the social-networkingsystem, the live-broadcast service may switch to an audio mode andinstruct the client system to only send an audio component of the mediastream to the social-networking system. The social-networking system mayaccordingly distribute only the audio component to one or more clientsystems of viewing users. As another example and not by way oflimitation, if a bandwidth of a network connected to by a viewing user'sclient system falls below bandwidth for receiving the video streamwithout disruption, the social-networking system may select an audiocomponent of the media stream it receives from the broadcasting user'sclient system and send this audio component to the viewing user's clientsystem. The viewing user will thereby experience an audio part of thelive broadcast. As shown in both examples, by switching the livebroadcast to an audio mode rather than suspending or terminating thelive broadcast when network connection is weak, particular embodimentsdisclosed herein may provide broadcasting and viewing users a continuousreal-time communication experience and improve their sense of presenceat the scene associated with the live-broadcast session.

In particular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may comprise anaudio live broadcast service. The audio live broadcast service may serveas a standalone alternative option to a video live broadcast service. Inparticular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may prompt a user tocreate either a video live broadcast or an audio live broadcast. Thelive-broadcast service may also allow the broadcasting user to switchfrom one format of the service to another format during a live broadcastsession. The broadcasting user may select a format based on, forexample, a network connectivity status associated with the user's clientsystem, capabilities of the client system (e.g., ability to capturevideo data), or personal preferences (e.g., whether the broadcastinguser would like to be seen by others). Similarly, when a media streamassociated with a live-broadcast session is available in both a videoformat and an audio format, the live-broadcast service may provide aviewing user options to consume the live broadcast in either of theformats. The viewing user may choose the audio format, for example, tosave cellular data, to avoid distraction of attention by a video (e.g.,when driving), or to simultaneously use another application on the sameclient system. The audio mode of the live-broadcast sessions maycomprise one or more customized user interface features different fromthose associated with the video mode. Although this disclosure describesbroadcasting a media stream associated with a user in one or moreformats to one or more other users in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates broadcasting a media stream associated with auser in one or more formats to one or more other users in any suitablemanner.

The embodiments disclosed herein are only examples, and the scope ofthis disclosure is not limited to them. Particular embodiments mayinclude all, some, or none of the components, elements, features,functions, operations, or steps of the embodiments disclosed above.Embodiments according to the invention are in particular disclosed inthe attached claims directed to a method, a storage medium, a system anda computer program product, wherein any feature mentioned in one claimcategory, e.g. method, can be claimed in another claim category, e.g.system, as well. The dependencies or references back in the attachedclaims are chosen for formal reasons only. However any subject matterresulting from a deliberate reference back to any previous claims (inparticular multiple dependencies) can be claimed as well, so that anycombination of claims and the features thereof are disclosed and can beclaimed regardless of the dependencies chosen in the attached claims.The subject-matter which can be claimed comprises not only thecombinations of features as set out in the attached claims but also anyother combination of features in the claims, wherein each featurementioned in the claims can be combined with any other feature orcombination of other features in the claims. Furthermore, any of theembodiments and features described or depicted herein can be claimed ina separate claim and/or in any combination with any embodiment orfeature described or depicted herein or with any of the features of theattached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate example preview interfaces allowing abroadcasting user to select a format in which to initiate alive-broadcast session.

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate example live-broadcast interfaces provided fordisplay on a client system associated with a broadcasting user.

FIG. 3 illustrates, in a timeline, switching of an examplelive-broadcast session between audio and video modes as controlled by afluctuation-control module.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example web interface associated with abroadcasting user displaying an example media object associated with alive-broadcast session.

FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate example live-broadcast interfaces provided fordisplay on a client system associated with a viewing user.

FIGS. 6A-6B illustrate example simplified user interfaces displayed on aclient system associated with a viewing user of a live-broadcastsession.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example method for providing a live-broadcastsession allowing a broadcasting user to broadcast a media stream to oneor more viewing users.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example method for adjusting a format of a mediastream associated with a live-broadcast session.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example network environment associated with asocial-networking system.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example social graph.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example computer system.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may implement alive-broadcast service allowing a user to broadcast a media stream toone or more other users. The live-broadcast service may distribute themedia stream in a live-broadcast session that allows one or more viewingusers to react to the media stream and communicate with the broadcastinguser in real time. This may create, for the viewing users, a sense ofpresence at a “scene” associated with the live broadcast session or afeeling of being at the same time and place as the broadcasting user.The ability of the social-networking system in steadily and smoothlyreceive the media stream from a client system of the broadcasting userand distribute the media stream to client systems of the viewing usersis essential to such sense of presence. A disruption to the distributionof the media stream or a lowering of its quality may be harmful to userexperience. The ability of the social-networking system to sustain alive-broadcast session may be limited by network connectivity status(e.g., bandwidth, network type, data usage transfer limit, stability)associated with the client systems of the broadcasting and viewingusers. Given particular network connectivity status, thesocial-networking system may be capable of distributing media stream inparticular formats (e.g., audio) with higher quality than media streamin other formats (e.g., video) because the transmission of the formermedia stream is less resource-consuming than the latter. In particularembodiments, the social-networking system may allow a broadcasting orviewing user to choose a format of the media stream to be broadcasted.Additionally or alternatively, a service may be provided toautomatically determine a format of the media stream based at least inpart on the network connectivity status. This service may be implementedat the social-networking system or one or more client systems associatedwith one or more users. Such functionalities may enhance the stabilityand quality of media streams distributed by the live-broadcast serviceand accordingly improve user experience in using the service.

In particular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may distribute amedia stream in an audio format as a fallback option for an existinglive-broadcast session showing the media stream in a video format. Inresponse to a broadcasting user's request for a live-broadcast sessionin a video format, the client system associated with the broadcastinguser may capture a video stream associated with the broadcasting userand send this video stream to the social-networking system. The videostream may comprise both video and audio data and provide a viewing usera combined visual and acoustic experience. The social-networking systemmay distribute this video stream to the client systems of one or moreviewing users. During the live broadcast session, the social-networkingsystem or one or more of the client systems may continuously detect anetwork connectivity status of one or more of the client systems. Basedon detection of the network connectivity status, the video stream may bechanged to an audio stream. As an example and not by way of limitation,if a bandwidth of a network connected to by the broadcasting user'sclient system falls below a threshold bandwidth needed for smoothlysending the video stream from the client system to the social-networkingsystem, the live-broadcast service may switch to an audio mode andinstruct the client system to only send an audio component of the mediastream to the social-networking system. The social-networking system mayaccordingly distribute only the audio component to one or more clientsystems of viewing users. As another example and not by way oflimitation, if a bandwidth of a network connected to by a viewing user'sclient system falls below bandwidth for receiving the video streamwithout disruption, the social-networking system may select an audiocomponent of the media stream it receives from the broadcasting user'sclient system and send this audio component to the viewing user's clientsystem. The viewing user will thereby experience an audio part of thelive broadcast. As shown in both examples, by switching the livebroadcast to an audio mode rather than suspending or terminating thelive broadcast when network connection is weak, particular embodimentsdisclosed herein may provide broadcasting and viewing users a continuousreal-time communication experience and improve their sense of presenceat the scene associated with the live-broadcast session.

In particular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may comprise anaudio live broadcast service. The audio live broadcast service may serveas a standalone alternative option to a video live broadcast service. Inparticular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may prompt a user tocreate either a video live broadcast or an audio live broadcast. Thelive-broadcast service may also allow the broadcasting user to switchfrom one format of the service to another format during a live broadcastsession. The broadcasting user may select a format based on, forexample, a network connectivity status associated with the user's clientsystem, capabilities of the client system (e.g., ability to capturevideo data), or personal preferences (e.g., whether the broadcastinguser would like to be seen by others). Similarly, when a media streamassociated with a live-broadcast session is available in both a videoformat and an audio format, the live-broadcast service may provide aviewing user options to consume the live broadcast in either of theformats. The viewing user may choose the audio format, for example, tosave cellular data, to avoid distraction of attention by a video (e.g.,when driving), or to simultaneously use another application on the sameclient system. The audio mode of the live-broadcast sessions maycomprise one or more customized user interface features different fromthose associated with the video mode. Although this disclosure describesbroadcasting a media stream associated with a user in one or moreformats to one or more other users in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates broadcasting a media stream associated with auser in one or more formats to one or more other users in any suitablemanner.

In particular embodiments, a client system associated with a user maysend, to the social-networking system, information to initiate alive-broadcast session for distribution of a media stream using thesocial-networking system. In particular embodiments, the live-broadcastservice associated with the social-networking system may be madeavailable to the user via an application associated with thesocial-networking system installed and run on the client system or abrowser on the client system displaying a web interface associated withthe social-networking system. The client system may bring up a previewinterface in response to the user's input requesting access to thelive-broadcast service. The preview interface may comprise one or moreinteractively elements for the user to, for example, input information(e.g., title, time, location) associated with a live-broadcast session,specify one or more settings (e.g., privacy, format) associated with thelive-broadcast session, inputting a request to start the live-broadcastsession, or perform another action associated with the live-broadcastsession.

FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate example preview interfaces allowing abroadcasting user to select a format in which to initiate alive-broadcast session. As an example and not by way of limitation, inresponse to a user input requesting access to the live-broadcastservice, the client system of the user may provide for display a previewinterface 110 for initiating a live video broadcast. The previewinterface 110 may comprise a title field 112, in which the user mayinput a title for the live-broadcast session, and a privacy field 114,which may be modified by the user to set privacy settings for thelive-broadcast session (e.g., public, friends only). The previewinterface 110 may further comprise a button 116 corresponding tostarting the live-broadcast session. If the user interacts with thebutton 116 by, for example, pressing on it, the live-broadcast servicemay initiate a live-broadcast session in video format. The previewinterface 110 may also comprise a switch button 118 for switching to apreview interface 120 for initiating a live audio broadcast. If the userinteracts with this switch button 118, the client system may provide fordisplay the preview interface 120. The preview interface 120 maycomprise a title field 122, in which the user may input a title for thelive-broadcast session, and a privacy field 124, which may be modifiedby the user to set privacy settings for the live-broadcast session. Thepreview interface may further comprise a button 126 corresponding tostarting the live-broadcast session. If the user interacts with thebutton 126 by, for example, pressing on it, the live-broadcast servicemay initiate a live-broadcast session in audio format. The previewinterface 120 may also comprise a switch button 128 for switching to thepreview interface 110 for initiating a live video broadcast. If the userinteracts with this switch button 128, the client system may provide fordisplay the preview interface 110. Although FIGS. 1A-1B illustrateparticular preview interfaces associated with a live-broadcast service,this disclosure contemplates any suitable preview interfaces associatedwith a live-broadcast service.

In particular embodiments, the client system associated with the usermay send to the social-networking system, in response to user input,information to initiate a live-broadcast session. The information maycomprise a specification as to a format (e.g., video, audio) of thelive-broadcast session. The social-networking system may initiate therequested live-broadcast session and send to the client system acorresponding user interface for display. FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate examplelive-broadcast interfaces provided for display on a client systemassociated with a broadcasting user. As shown in FIG. 2A, in response toinformation received from the client system specifying the video formatfor a live-broadcast session, the social-networking system may send thelive-broadcast interface 210 to the client system for display. Thelive-broadcast interface 210 may comprise a video field 212 showing avideo currently captured by a camera associated with the client system.In this particular example, the video captured may show the user's face.The live-broadcast interface 210 may further comprise a reaction field204 displaying reaction information associated with one or more otherusers viewing the live broadcast. The reaction field 204 may display,for example, one or more text strings, one or more emoticons, one ormore other information objects inputted by one or more viewing users, orany combination thereof. The live-broadcast interface 210 may comprise atimer 206 indicating a length of time that the current live-broadcastsession is in place and a headcount icon 208 indicating a number ofusers viewing the live broadcast. It may also comprise a camera button202. The broadcasting user may interact with the camera button 202 todeactivate the camera associated with the client system and switch thelive-broadcast session to an audio mode.

FIG. 2B illustrates a live-broadcast interface 220 associated with theaudio mode. Because the camera associated with the client system hasbeen turned off by the broadcasting user, this interface 220 may notcomprise the video field 212. Instead, the live-broadcast interface 220may comprise an image 228 associated with the broadcasting user and ananimation 222 representing an audio stream captured by the clientsystem. The live-broadcast interface 220 may also comprise a notice 224indicating that a video is not available to the viewing users and anotice 226 indicating that the client system is not recording a videoassociated with the current live-broadcast session. In thelive-broadcast interface, the broadcasting user may interact with thecamera button 202 to activate the camera associated with the clientsystem and switch the live-broadcast session to the video mode. AlthoughFIGS. 2A-2B illustrate particular live-broadcast interfaces comprisingparticular elements, this disclosure contemplates any suitablelive-broadcast interfaces comprising any suitable elements.

In particular embodiments, after a live-broadcast session has beeninitiated, the client system associated with the broadcasting user maycapture an incoming media stream in association with the live-broadcastsession. The client system my capture the incoming media stream usingone or more I/O devices (e.g., video camera, microphone). The one ormore I/O devices may be integrated in the client system or beindependent and connected to the client system. The incoming mediastream may comprise, for example, audio data, video data, other suitabledata, or any combination thereof.

In particular embodiments, the client system associated with thebroadcasting user may generate an outgoing media stream based on theincoming media stream. The outgoing media stream may be in the sameformat as or identical to the incoming media steam. Alternatively, theoutgoing media stream may comprise part of the incoming media stream. Asan example and not by way of limitation, for an incoming media streamcomprising both audio and video data, the client system may generate thesecond media stream by removing the video data and retaining the audiodata. In this case, the outgoing media stream may be an audio stream.

In particular embodiments, the client system associated with thebroadcasting user may determine a format in which to generate theoutgoing media stream based at least in part on a network connectivitystatus associated with the client system. Alternatively or additionally,the client system may determine the format based at least in part on aninput signal to the client system indicating selection of a particularformat. This determination may alternatively be performed by thesocial-networking system based at least in part on information receivedfrom the client system. The client system may generate the outgoingmedia steam based on instructions received from the social-networkingsystem.

As an example and not by way of limitation, the live-broadcast servicemay automatically determine the format based on a bandwidth of a networkthat the client system is connected to. The client system may detect,measure, or record bandwidth values associated with the network overtime. It may compare the detected values with a threshold bandwidthvalue and determine whether the actual bandwidth is greater than thethreshold. The threshold value may be stored at the client system,received from the social-networking system, or determined in real timebased on the quality of media transmission from the client system. Ifthe detected bandwidth is less than the threshold value, thelive-broadcast service may determine that the network connection of theclient system is not fast enough to sustain a live video broadcast. Itmay determine that the audio format is appropriate for the currentnetwork connection. The client system may thereby generate an audiostream as the outgoing media stream. On the other hand, if the detectedbandwidth is greater than the threshold value, the live-broadcastservice may determine that the speed of the network connection issufficient for transmission of video data. It may accordingly instructthe client system to maintain the outgoing media stream identical to theincoming media stream.

As another example and not by way of limitation, the live-broadcastservice may determine the format based on an explicit user input. Asshown in FIGS. 1A-1B, the client system may prompt the user to choose aformat for an upcoming live-broadcast session. Additionally, the clientsystem may receive an input from the broadcasting user during alive-broadcast session. The input may comprise, for example, aninteraction with the camera button 202 in the live-broadcast interfaces210 and 220. The live-broadcast service may determine the format for theoutgoing media stream based on the user's input. Based on thedetermination, the client system may generate the outgoing media streamconsistent with the determined format and provide for display a userinterface comprising the media stream in the determined format.

As yet another example and not by way of limitation, the live-broadcastservice may determine the format based on signals detected by thesocial-networking system. Before or during a live-broadcast session, thesocial-networking system may detect, measure, or record a packet rate ora packet-loss rate associated with communications with the broadcastinguser's client system over time. The social-networking system may comparethe packet rate or packet-loss rate with one or more correspondingthreshold values. If the social-networking system determines that thepacket rate is less than a threshold value or that the packet-loss rateis greater than a threshold value, it may determine that thecommunication channel between the social-networking system and theclient system is not sufficiently fast or stable to sustain smoothtransmission of a video stream. It may therefore send instructions tothe client system so that the client system generates the outgoing mediatreat in the audio format. On the other hand, if the social-networkingsystem determines that the packet rate or packet-loss rate satisfies therespective threshold value, it may send instructions to the clientsystem indicating that a live-video-broadcast session is available.

In particular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may be executed bythe social-networking system or the client system. The determination ofthe media stream's format may be performed by the social-networkingsystem or the client system. Such determination may be facilitated bytransmission of network connectivity status data, user input data, orother informative data between the social-networking system and theclient system. Instructions and requests regarding, for example, theformat of the outgoing media stream, the mode of the live-broadcastsession, or the user interface to be displayed may also be exchangedbetween the social-networking system and the client system. Inparticular embodiments, the determination of the outgoing media stream'sformat may be performed before or during the live-broadcast session. Thelive-broadcast service may prompt the user to choose a format or informthe user of an automatically chosen format before a live-broadcastsession and initiate the session in the format. Alternatively, thelive-broadcast service may automatically determine the format in realtime during streaming and provide the live-broadcast session in a waydetermined to optimize user experience (e.g., providing video wheneverpossible, avoiding suspension or termination of live broadcast). It mayalso allow the broadcasting user to freely switch between audio andvideo modes during streaming. Although this disclosure describesgenerating a particular outgoing media stream in particular formats in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates generating any suitableoutgoing media stream in any suitable formats in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may control thetiming of switching between different modes of the live-broadcastsession using a fluctuation-control module. As an example and not by wayof limitation, if the outgoing media stream is automatically changedfrom the video format to the audio format due to a decrease in thebandwidth of a network connected to by the broadcasting user's clientsystem, it may be desirable to bring the media stream back to a videostream if the bandwidth increases back to a satisfactory level. However,it may not be worthwhile to switch back to the video mode if thebandwidth only stays high for a short period of time, as frequentswitching between the audio and video modes may hurt user experience.The fluctuation-control module may receive network connectivity datafrom the client system and dynamically determine whether and when toswitch from one mode of the live broadcast to the other. Thefluctuation-control module may reduce potential detriment to userexperience caused by fluctuations in network connectivity. Specifically,the client system associated with the broadcasting user may measure oneor more bandwidth values associated with a network connection of theclient system, each bandwidth value being associated with a time of itsmeasurement. The live-broadcast service may determine that each of oneor more of the bandwidth values within a period of time of a specifiedlength are greater than a threshold bandwidth value. It may instruct theclient system to switch from generating the outgoing media stream in aformat not comprising video data to generating the outgoing media streamin a format comprising video data based at least in part on thedetermination.

FIG. 3 illustrates, in a timeline, switching of an examplelive-broadcast session between audio and video modes as controlled by afluctuation-control module. Within FIG. 3, the line 310 representsbandwidth values of a network connection associated with the clientsystem over time. The line 320 represents a threshold bandwidth value.If the bandwidth of the client system falls below the thresholdbandwidth value, the network connection is determined to not be fastenough to sustain a live video broadcast. The coordinate 330 representsa plurality of time points; the time values may correspond to anysuitable unit of time. For simplicity purposes, the coordinate 330 maybe interpreted as representing a time period from 0 second (s) to 20 s.As illustrated by FIG. 3, the bandwidth value 310 may be greater thanthe threshold 320 from 0 s to 2 s. During this period, thefluctuation-control module may instruct the client system to generatethe media stream in the video format. At 2 s, the bandwidth 310 maysuddenly drop below the threshold 320. Because the resulting bandwidthis not sufficient for a live-video-broadcast session withoutdisruptions, the fluctuation-control module may instruct the clientsystem to immediately switch to the audio mode and generate the outgoingmedia stream in the audio format. At 6 s, the bandwidth 310 may raiseabove the threshold 320. Although this bandwidth is sufficient forproviding the live broadcast in the video format, thefluctuation-control module may enforce a specified delay (e.g., 1 s) toensure that the bandwidth is likely stabilized at its current value andprevent the client system from switching back to the video mode. At 7 s,the bandwidth 310 may drop back below the threshold 320 before the delayenforced by the fluctuation-control module expires. Therefore, thefluctuation-control module prevents an unnecessary fluctuation in thelive-broadcast session between 6 s and 7 s. At 8 s, again, the bandwidth310 may raise above the threshold 320. The fluctuation-control modulemay enforce the 1 s delay again and instruct the client system togenerate an outgoing audio stream until 9 s, when the delay expires. Theclient system may be instructed to generate the media stream in thevideo format from 9 s to 13 s, when the bandwidth 310 drops back belowthe threshold 320. This process may continue as shown on FIG. 3. In thisexample, the length of the delay applied by the fluctuation-controlmodule may be optimized based on historical data collected by thefluctuation-control module. It may be any suitable value. Although FIG.3 illustrates a particular timeline of switching between the audio andvideo modes, this disclosure contemplates any suitable timeline ofswitching between the audio and video modes.

In particular embodiments, the client system associated with thebroadcasting user may send the outgoing media stream to thesocial-networking system. The social-networking system may thendistribute the received media stream to one or more client systemsassociated with one or more viewing users in real time. The viewingusers may have requested access to the live-broadcast session.Additionally or alternatively, the social-networking system may bufferthe received media stream before distributing it to the client systemsassociated with the viewing users. In particular embodiments, the clientsystem associated with the broadcasting user may directly send theoutgoing media stream to one or more client systems associated with oneor more viewing users without sending the media stream to thesocial-networking system. This arrangement may be particularly efficientif the client systems are connect to each other by a mesh network or alocal area network. Specifically, the client system associated with thebroadcasting user may receive instructions from the social-networkingsystem to distribute the outgoing media stream to one or more clientsystems associated with viewing users. The instructions may comprise,for example, identification information or network address informationof the client systems. Based on the instructions, the client systemassociated with the broadcasting user may send the outgoing media streamto the one or more other client systems identified by thesocial-networking system. Although this disclosure describes sending theoutgoing media stream in a particular manner, this disclosurecontemplates sending the outgoing media stream in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may provideinformation to display a user interface associated with thelive-broadcast session on the client system associated with thebroadcasting user. Examples of the user interface are illustrated byFIGS. 2A-2B. The user interface may comprise a visual representationassociated with the outgoing media stream. If the outgoing media streamis in the video format, the visual representation associated with theoutgoing media stream may comprise the video stream 212. If the outgoingmedia stream is in the audio format, the visual representationassociated with the outgoing media stream may comprise an animation 222associated with the audio stream. In this case, the user interface 220may also comprise an image 228 associated with the broadcasting user.The user interface may further comprise reaction information 204associated with one or more viewing users of the live-broadcast session.The reaction information 204 may comprise one or more graphic emoticons,one or more comments, one or more indications of likes by the viewingusers, other reaction information, or any combination thereof. The userinterface may further comprise a menu bar comprising one or moreselectable icons allowing the broadcasting user to modify one or moresettings associated with the live-broadcast session or access one ormore functionalities of the live-broadcast service. The components ofthe user interface may be organized within one or more fields such as,for example, a video stream field, an animation and cover image field, alive reactions field, a comments field, a control field, anothersuitable field, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments, avisual representation of an audio stream may occupy a smaller area ofthe user interface than a visual representation of a video stream; thismay allow one or more other components to occupy a larger area of theuser interface. As an example and not by way of limitation, thelive-broadcast service may display more comments in a user interfacedisplaying an animation of an audio stream than a user interfacedirectly displaying a video stream.

In particular embodiments, the image associated with the broadcastinguser displayed within the user interface may comprise a cover imageprovided by the broadcasting user and stored by the social-networkingsystem or the client system. Prior to or during a live-broadcastsession, the live-broadcast service may prompt the broadcasting user toupload or select an image as a cover image associated with thelive-broadcast functionality. The cover image may be stored in one ormore data stores associated with the social-networking system or theclient system associated with the broadcasting user. The cover image maybe displayed within the user interface when a live-broadcast session isinitiated or when the live-broadcast session switches to the audio mode.Alternatively, in case the live-broadcast session switches from thevideo mode to the audio mode, the user interface may capture ascreenshot of the last frame of the video stream and display thiscaptured image in the user interface. The live-broadcast service mayapply one or more changes to the captured image before providing it fordisplay in the user interface. As an example and not by way oflimitation, the live-broadcast service may apply a blurring effect tothe captured image and display the blurred image as a backgroundsuperposing the audio animation. As an example and not by way oflimitation, the live-broadcast service may reduce the size of thecaptured image and display is in the form of a profile image associatedwith the broadcasting user.

In particular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may provideanimation associated with an audio stream in one of one or moredifferent shapes (e.g., pulsating dot, undulating wave). The animationmay be color coded. It may visually represent one or more features ofthe audio stream (e.g., volume, pitch). A sounds visualization enginemay be used to generate multiple different types of audio animation ofvarying level of fidelity, reactiveness, level of processing powerconsumption. Different types of audio animation may be created in acustomized manner based on, for example, categories of audio content,identities of broadcasting users, demographical information associatedwith broadcasting users, other suitable factors, or any combinationthereof. In particular embodiments, the live-broadcast service mayprompt the broadcasting user to select a particular type of animation tobe displayed in the user interface on the client system associated withthe broadcasting user or one or more user interfaces displayed on one ormore client systems associated with one or more viewing users.Alternatively, the live-broadcast service may automatically select atype of animation for a particular live-broadcast session. The selectionmay be based on capabilities or status of the broadcasting user's clientsystem. As an example and not by way of limitation, a type of audioanimation with complex features, high fidelity, and quick reactivenessmay be selected for a client system having large available memory. Onthe other hand, a minimalist type of audio animation may be selected fora client system with relatively weak processing capabilities. Althoughthis disclosure describes providing information to display a particularuser interface in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplatesproviding information to display any suitable user interface in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, the client system associated with thebroadcasting user may record the audio data and the video data of theincoming media stream and store the recorded data in one or more datastores associated with the client system. It may then send a mediaobject comprising the stored data associated with the incoming mediastream to the social-networking system for display in a web interfaceassociated with the broadcasting user. In particular embodiments, themedia object may comprise a full recording of the incoming media stream.It may be posted, for example, on a timeline associated with thebroadcasting user's account on the social-networking system. Thelive-broadcast service may generate additional information associatedwith the live broadcast, such as captions corresponding to the audiodata, for display along with the media object. Switching between thevideo mode and the video mode of a live-broadcast session may or may notaffect a media object recorded based on the live-broadcast session.

As an example and not by way of limitation, after switching fromgenerating an outgoing media stream in the video format to generatingthe outgoing media stream in the audio format due to bandwidthlimitations, the client system associated with the broadcasting user maynonetheless continue to record both video and audio data locally. Thislocal recordation of the media stream is not limited by the bandwidth ofthe network connection between the client system and thesocial-networking system. The user interface displayed to thebroadcasting user may specifically and clearly indicate that video isstill being recorded even if the live-broadcast session has beenswitched to the audio mode. After the live-broadcast session andpreferentially when a high-quality network connection is available, theclient system may send the recorded media object to thesocial-networking system for display. This method may provide usersviewing the recorded live-broadcast session on the social-networkingsystem a full live experience without interruptions by issues such asnetwork connectivity fluctuations.

As another example and not by way of limitation, the live-broadcastservice may be configured to interpret a broadcasting user's explicitselection to have a live-broadcast session in the audio mode as anindication that the user is unwilling to have video recorded. Wheninitiating the live-broadcast session, the live-broadcast service maycause the client system of the broadcasting user to turn off one or morecamera associated with the client system. The client system may recordpurely audio data associated with the live-broadcast session and send anaudio media object to the social-networking system for display.

As yet another example and not by way of limitation, the client systemassociated with the broadcasting user may display, in the user interfaceassociated with the live-broadcast session, an interactive element(e.g., a button) associated with camera options. The broadcasting usermay interact with the interactive element to turn on or turn off one ormore cameras associated with the client system before or during alive-broadcast session. The user interface may further comprise one ormore indicators indicating whether video data is being recorded. Therecorded media object in this case may comprise a mixture of audio andvideo data based on the user's actions during the live-broadcastsession. Although this disclosure describes recording and sending amedia object associated with the incoming media stream in a particularmanner, this disclosure contemplates recording and sending a mediaobject associated with the incoming media stream in any suitable manner.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example web interface associated with abroadcasting user displaying an example media object associated with alive-broadcast session. In particular embodiments, a client systemassociated with a broadcasting user may record a live broadcast in theaudio format. It may send a media object comprising the recorded data tothe social-networking system for display in a web interface associatedwith the broadcasting user. As an example and not by way of limitation,the social-networking system may display the media object in a timelineinterface 400 associated with the broadcasting user as a post. The postmay comprise a title field 412 displaying, for example, identificationinformation associated with the broadcasting user, date of thelive-broadcasting session, privacy settings associated with the mediaobject, and a title created by the broadcasting user. The post mayfurther comprise a visual representation field 414, which may display,for example, an animation associated with the audio record and a coverimage associated with the broadcasting user. The live-broadcast servicemay have generated captions corresponding to the audio record. Thecaptions may have been generated using a speech-recognition algorithm.The captions may alternatively have been provided or inputted by thebroadcasting user. The social-networking system may display captions 416as part of the post. The post may also comprise a reaction informationfield 418, which displays, for example, information associated withviews, comments, likes, or shares associated with the media object.Although FIG. 4 illustrates a particular web interface displaying aparticular media object associated with a live-broadcast session, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable web interface display any suitablemedia object associated with a live-broadcast session.

In particular embodiments, a client system associated with a viewinguser may send to the social-networking system a request to access alive-broadcast session associated with a broadcasting user. Thelive-broadcast session may comprise a media stream. The media stream maybe available in the video format or the audio format. In particularembodiments, in response to information received from the client systemassociated with the broadcasting user to initiate a live broadcastsession, the social-networking system may initiate the live-broadcastsession based on the received information. It may provide thelive-broadcast session on one or more web interfaces associated with thebroadcasting user. It may further send a notification about thelive-broadcast session to client systems associated with one or moreother users of the social-networking system. The recipients of thenotification may be related to the broadcasting user on thesocial-networking system. As an example and not by way of limitation,the social-networking system may selectively send the notification tofriends of the broadcasting user, users within a specified degree ofseparation from the broadcasting user, or users with an above-thresholdaffinity coefficient with the broadcasting user. With or without seeingthe notification, one or more users may cause their client systems tosend requests to access the live-broadcast session to thesocial-networking system. Although this disclosure describes sending arequest to access a live-broadcast session in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates sending a request to access a live-broadcastsession in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, the live-broadcast service may determine aformat for the media stream to be received by the client systemassociated with a viewing user. The determination may be based at leastin part on availability of the media stream in the video format or theaudio format and a network connectivity status associated with theclient system. The determination may also be based on an explicit inputreceived by the client system specifying a particular format. Thedetermination may be performed prior to a live-broadcast session ordynamically during the live-broadcast session. The social-networkingsystem may send information associated with a live-broadcast session toone or more client systems receiving a notification about thelive-broadcast session or one or more client systems requesting toaccess the live-broadcast session. The information may comprise, forexample, a title of the live-broadcast session, identificationinformation of the broadcasting user, information about one or moreother entities related to the live-broadcast session, the scheduled oractual starting time of the live-broadcast session, an expected durationof the live-broadcast session, other suitable information, or anycombination thereof. In particular embodiments, the information sentfrom the social-networking system to the client systems associated withthe viewing users may further comprise information about one or moreformats (e.g., audio, video) that the live-broadcast session is madeavailable in. The formats information may be obtained based on anexplicit selection by the broadcasting user or an analysis of theoutgoing media stream received from the client system associated withthe broadcasting user.

As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking systemmay receive, from the client system associated with the broadcastinguser, information about selection of the audio mode along with otherinformation to initiate the live-broadcast session. Thesocial-networking system may determine that, based on the selection, theonly format that the live-broadcast session will be available in is theaudio format. It may forward such information to one or more clientsystems associated with potential viewing users. As another example andnot by way of limitation, the social-networking system may determinethat a media stream received from the client system associated with thebroadcasting user comprises both audio data and video data. It may sendinformation to one or more client systems associated with potentialviewing users indicating that the live-broadcast session is available inboth audio and video formats. The client system associated with aviewing user may only receive the media stream in a format that isavailable.

In particular embodiments, the network connectivity status associatedwith the client system of a viewing user may comprise, for example, abandwidth of a network connection of the client system, a network typeof the network connection of the client system, a data usage transferlimit with respect to a specified network available to the clientsystem, a data usage status of the client system with respect to thespecified network, another suitable factor of the network connectivitystatus, or any combination thereof. The network connectivity status maybe determined by the client system or the social-networking system. Asan example and not by way of limitation, the client system may receiveinformation associated with a data usage transfer limit with respect toa particular network (e.g., 4G LTE) from a data service providerassociated with the network. The data usage transfer limit maycorrespond to a particular timeframe specified by the data serviceprovider. The client system may further track an amount of data usagewithin the specified timeframe based on user activities on the clientsystem. As another example and not by way of limitation, thesocial-networking system may detect, measure, or record a packet rate ora packet-loss rate associated with communications with the viewinguser's client system over time. It may determine a bandwidth associatedwith the connection between the social-networking system and the clientsystem based at least in part on the packet rate or the packet-lossrate. Information about the network connectivity status of the clientsystem may be exchanged between the client system and thesocial-networking system. The determination of the format of receivedmedia stream may be performed by the live-broadcast service as executedeither by the client system or the social-networking system.

As an example and not by way of limitation, the live-broadcast servicemay provide a live-broadcast session in the video mode. Thesocial-networking system may receive from a client system associatedwith a broadcasting user a media stream comprising both audio and videodata and make the media stream available to one or more client systemsassociated with one or more viewing users. The client system associatedwith a particular viewing user may determine that a bandwidth of anetwork connection between the client system and the social-networkingsystem is greater than a specified threshold value. This may imply thatthe network connection is fast enough to allow smooth transmission ofthe media stream from the social-networking system to the client system.The client system may prompt the viewing user to freely choose eitherthe video format or the audio format of the media stream and request andreceive the media stream from the social-networking system in the chosenformat.

As another example and not by way of limitation, the client systemassociated with the viewing user may initially access a live-broadcastsession in the video mode. During the live-broadcast session, due to adrop in a bandwidth of the network connectivity of the broadcastinguser's client system, it may begin to send an audio stream to thesocial-networking system. Since the media stream is now only availablein the audio format, the client system associated with the viewing useris forced to receive the media stream comprising only audio data fromthe social-networking system.

As another example and not by way of limitation, the client systemassociated with the viewing user may initially access a live-broadcastsession in the video mode. During the live-broadcast session, abandwidth associated with the client system's network connection may bedetermined to drop below a specified threshold value. If thedetermination is performed by the client system, the client system mayupdate a request to the social-networking system to receive only anaudio component of a media stream associated with the live-broadcastsession. Alternatively, if the determination is performed by thesocial-networking system, the social-networking system may automaticallymodify the format of the media stream it provides to the client systemand begin to send an audio stream to the client system.

As yet another example and not by way of limitation, the live-broadcastservice may provide a live-broadcast session in both the audio mode andthe video mode. The client system associated with a viewing user maydetermine that the client system is connected to a high-cost network(e.g., a cellular network) and a high percentage of the data usageallowance for the viewing user has been used. The client system maythereby determine to receive the media stream associated with thelive-broadcast session in the audio format. Although this disclosuredescribes determining a format for a media stream to be received in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates determining a format fora media stream to be received in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, the client system may provide the mediastream in the determined format to the viewing user. The media streammay be provided in a user interface associated with the live-broadcastsession. FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate example live-broadcast interfacesprovided for display on a client system associated with a viewing user.As shown in FIG. 5A, the client system associated with the viewing usermay access a live-broadcast session in the video mode. The client systemmay provide for display a live-broadcast interface 510 associated withthe live-broadcast session. The live-broadcast interface 510 maycomprise a visual representation 512 of the media stream. In the videomode, the visual representation 512 may comprise the video streamreceived from the social-networking system. The live-broadcast interface510 may comprise a reaction field 204 displaying reaction informationassociated with one or more viewing users of the live broadcast, a timer206 indicating a length of time that the current live-broadcast sessionhas lasted, and a headcount icon 208 indicating a number of usersviewing the live broadcast. The live-broadcast interface 510 may furthercomprise a comment field 502 allowing the viewing user to input commentson the live broadcast, a like button 504 for the viewing user tointeract with to express “like” for the live broadcast, and a emoticonbutton 506 for the viewing user to interact with to input one or moreemoticons in response to the live broadcast.

In particular embodiments, the client system associated with the viewinguser may determine a type of network it is connected to. It maydetermine that a data usage transfer limit applies to this type ofnetwork. The client system may have received information about the datausage allowance for the viewing user within a specified timeframe fromthe data service provider or the viewing user. It may further determineor receive a data usage status of the viewing user, which may comprisean amount of data that has been used within the specified timeframe forthe determined type of network. In particular embodiments, based on theaforementioned information, the client system may determine that anamount of data usage available within a specified period is less than adata usage threshold. In this case, the client system may notify theviewing user of the data usage status and switch to receiving a mediastream associated with a live-broadcast session in the audio format. Asshown in FIG. 5B, upon determining that the viewing user is running lowon cellular data, the client system may provide for display in thelive-broadcast interface 520 a message 522. The message 522 may informthe user about the data usage status and prompt the user to choose toswitch to the audio mode to save data. For example, the message 522 mayallow the viewing user to click on the “OK, I understand” button to staywith the video mode or to click on the “Switch to Audio” button toswitch to the audio mode. If the user clicks on the “Switch to Audio”button, the client system may send an updated request to thesocial-networking system to begin receiving only an audio component ofthe media stream. In response to the viewing user's input, the clientsystem may transition from the live-broadcast interface 520 to thelive-broadcast interface 530 as shown in FIG. 5C.

FIG. 5C illustrates a live-broadcast interface 530 associated with anaudio mode of the live-broadcast session. The live-broadcast interface530 may replace the video stream 512 with a visual representation field532 comprising, for example, a cover image associated with thebroadcasting user and an animation associated with the audio stream. Thecover image may be a pre-stored image associated with the broadcastinguser or a screenshot of the last frame of the previously-displayed videostream. The animation associated with the audio stream may be of a typeselected by the broadcasting user or the viewing user. It mayalternatively be automatically selected based on the capabilities andstatus of the client system associated with the viewing user.Specifically, the live-broadcast service may select a simpler type ofanimation if the processing capabilities of the client system arelimited; it may select a type of animation with complexity, highfidelity, or quick reactiveness if the processing capabilities of theclient system are sufficient. The visual representation field 532 mayoccupy a smaller area than the video stream 512 within thelive-broadcast interface 530. This may leave space for a live reactionfield 534 displaying one or more emoticons inputted by one or more usersviewing the live broadcast. The live-broadcast interface 530 may furtherdisplay a message 536 informing the viewing user that the videostreaming has been switched off to save data.

In particular embodiments, a live-broadcast session may be associatedwith more than one broadcasting users. One of the broadcasting users maybe a “host” of the live-broadcast session, whose client system initiallysends information to the social-networking system to initiate thelive-broadcast session. One or more other broadcasting users may be“guests” to the live-broadcast session. A client system associated witheach of the broadcasting users may generate an outgoing media stream andsend the outgoing media stream to the social-networking system. Thedetermination of the format for the outgoing media stream associatedwith each of the broadcasting user may be performed by thesocial-networking system or a client system of the respectivebroadcasting user. The format may be determined based at least in parton a network connectivity status associated with the client system or aninput signal to the client system indicating selection of a particularformat. The formats of the outgoing media streams associated withdifferent broadcasting users may be the same or different. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, the media streams associated with thebroadcasting users may all be in the video format or the audio format.As another example and not by way of limitation, the media streamsassociated with one or more of the broadcasting users may be in thevideo format, while the media streams associated with one or more otherbroadcasting users may be in the audio format. Client systems associatedwith one or more viewing users of the live-broadcast session maysimultaneously receive media streams generated by client systemsassociated with the host and the guests of the live-broadcast session intheir respective formats. As shown in FIG. 5D, the live-broadcastinterface 540 may comprise a visual representation field 542 thatcomprises cover images associated with both a host and a guest of thelive-broadcast session. It may further comprise identificationinformation associated with the guest. In particular embodiments, thelive-broadcast interface 540 may alternatively display a combination ofvideo streams from the host and one or more guests or a combination ofvideo stream and audio animation from the hosts and guests. Selection ofthe formats of the media streams may be based on availability of themedia streams in different formats and network connectivity statusassociated with the client systems of the broadcasting users and theviewing users. Although FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate particular userinterfaces provided for display on a client system associated with aviewing user, this disclosure contemplates any suitable user interfacesprovided for display on a client system associated with a viewing user.

In particular embodiments, to provide a user interface associated with alive-broadcast session to a viewing user, a client system associatedwith the viewing user may execute an application associated with thelive-broadcast session either in the foreground or in the background.The application may be, for example, an application of generalfunctionality (e.g., a web browser), an application associated with thesocial-networking system, or an application associated with thelive-broadcast service and specifically configured to providelive-broadcast sessions. In particular embodiments, the client systemmay execute the application in a foreground state. In this case, theapplication may provide information to display a maximized userinterface corresponding to the live-broadcast session. Examples of sucha maximized user interface are illustrated by FIGS. 5A-5D.

Alternatively, the client system may execute the application in abackground state. In this case, the application may provide informationto display a minimized user interface corresponding to thelive-broadcast session. A live-broadcast session in the audio mode maybe particularly appropriate when the viewing user's attention is devotedto an activity other than engaging the live-broadcast session (e.g.,driving, working out, using another application on the client system).The user interface displayed to the viewing user may be customized forthe needs related to such use cases. In particular embodiments, when theapplication associated with the live-broadcast session is sent to thebackground of the client system, the application may automatically causethe live-broadcast session to switch to the audio mode if thelive-broadcast session was in the video mode. The application maycontinue to run in the background and provide information to display auser interface corresponding to the live-broadcast session.

In particular embodiments, when the viewing user is not activelyengaging the live-broadcast session, the user interface corresponding tothe live-broadcast session may be simplified and included in, forexample, a lock-screen interface, a notification bar, or another portionof a display associated with the client system. Such arrangements mayallow the viewing user to use another application while listening to thelive-broadcast session or may avoid unnecessary distractions to theviewing user. These variations of the user interface may comprise one ormore elements of the maximized user interface and not comprise one ormore other elements of the maximized user interface. The size andappearance of particular elements may also be modified. In particularembodiments, a simplified user interface may not comprise a fieldcontaining reaction information associated with the media stream (e.g.,reaction field 204, live reaction field 534). When such a user interfaceis displayed, the live-broadcast service may use alternative signals toindicate reactions to the live broadcast. As an example and not by wayof limitation, the live-broadcast service may use particular soundeffects to indicate reactions to the live broadcast. For example, thelive-broadcast service may play a sound corresponding to an air bubbleeach time a reaction (e.g., a comment, a like, an emoticon) is inputtedfor the live broadcast. As another example and not by way of limitation,the live-broadcast service may use a brightness of the portion of thedisplay corresponding to the simplified user interface to represent anamount of reactions to the live broadcast. The portion may be madebright if there are a large number of reactions to the live broadcastand dark if there are not many reactions. Although this disclosuredescribes displaying a particular simplified user interface associatedwith a live-broadcast session in a particular manner, this disclosurecontemplates displaying any suitable simplified user interfaceassociated with a live-broadcast session in any suitable manner.

FIGS. 6A-6B illustrate example simplified user interfaces displayed on aclient system associated with a viewing user of a live-broadcastsession. As shown in FIG. 6A, if the client system enters into a lockedstate during a live-broadcast session, it may continue playing at leastan audio component of the media stream associated with thelive-broadcast session. The client system may also display a simplifiedinterface 610 in a locked screen. The interface 610 may comprise a titleassociated with the live-broadcast session, a volume bar 614 allowingthe viewing user to adjust the volume of the audio stream, and a visualrepresentation 616 associated with the live-broadcast session. As shownin FIG. 6B, if an application different from the one associated with thelive-broadcast session is opened on the client system associated withthe viewing user, the client system may provide for display the userinterface 620. A portion of the user interface 620 may be assigned todisplay a simplified interface 622 associated with the live-broadcastsession. The simplified interface 622 may indicate the identity of thebroadcasting user. Although FIGS. 6A-6B illustrate particular simplifieduser interfaces associated with a live-broadcast session, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable simplified user interfacesassociated with a live-broadcast session.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example method for providing a live-broadcastsession allowing a broadcasting user to broadcast a media stream to oneor more viewing users. As shown in FIG. 7A, the broadcasting user may beassociated with a client system 830 a; one of the viewing users may beassociated with a client system 830 b. The client systems 830 may beconnected to the social-networking system 860 via one or more networkconnections. At step 711, the client system 830 a associated with thebroadcasting user may send information to the social-networking system860 to initiate a live-broadcast session. In response to the informationreceived from the client system 830 a, the social-networking system 860may initiate a live-broadcast session at step 712. At step 713 a, thesocial-networking system 860 may send and the client system 830 a mayreceive information to display a user interface associated with thelive-broadcast session. At step 713 b, in parallel with step 713 a, thesocial-networking system may send and the client system 830 b mayreceive a notification about the live-broadcast session. At step 714,the client system 830 a may capture an incoming media stream inassociation with the live-broadcast session initiated at step 712. Theclient system 830 a may then generate an outgoing media stream based onthe incoming media stream at step 715. This outgoing media stream may beidentical to the incoming media stream. Alternatively, the outgoingmedia stream may comprise part of the data (e.g., audio data only) ofthe incoming media stream. In parallel and at step 716, the clientsystem 830 b may send a request to access the live-broadcast session inresponse to the notification received from the social-networking system860. At step 717, the client system 830 b may determine a format (e.g.,audio, video) for the media stream to be received in association withthe live-broadcast session. This determination may be based oninformation received from the social-networking system 860 indicatingone or more formats available for the outgoing media stream generated bythe client system 830 a at step 715 or a network connectivity status ofthe client system 830 b. At step 718 a, the client system 830 a may sendthe generated outgoing media stream to the social-networking system 860.At substantially the same time or with a short delay, at step 718 b, thesocial-networking system 860 may distribute the media stream to theclient system 830 b in the format determined by the client system 830 b.In particular embodiments, the client system 830 a may bypass thesocial-networking system 860 and directly send the media stream to theclient system 830 a at step 718. The viewing user may have one or morereactions to the live broadcast and may generate corresponding reactioninformation. At step 719 b, the client system 830 b may send suchreaction information to the social-networking system 860. At step 719 a,the social-networking system 860 may forward the reaction informationfor display in the user interface displayed on the client system 830 a.

Particular embodiments may repeat one or more steps of the method ofFIG. 7A, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes andillustrates particular steps of the method of FIG. 7A as occurring in aparticular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of themethod of FIG. 7A occurring in any suitable order. Moreover, althoughthis disclosure describes and illustrates an example method forproviding a live-broadcast session including the particular steps of themethod of FIG. 7A, this disclosure contemplates any suitable method forproviding a live-broadcast session including any suitable steps, whichmay include all, some, or none of the steps of the method of FIG. 7A,where appropriate. Furthermore, although this disclosure describes andillustrates particular components, devices, or systems carrying outparticular steps of the method of FIG. 7A, this disclosure contemplatesany suitable combination of any suitable components, devices, or systemscarrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example method for adjusting a format of a mediastream associated with a live-broadcast session. At step 711, the clientsystem 830 a associated with the broadcasting user may send informationto the social-networking system 860 to initiate a live-broadcastsession. In response to the information received from the client system830 a, the social-networking system 860 may initiate a live-broadcastsession at step 712. At step 721 a, in association with thelive-broadcast session, the client system 830 a may initially send amedia stream comprising both video and audio data to thesocial-networking system 860. At step 721 b, the client system 830 b mayreceive the media stream comprising both video and audio data from thesocial-networking system 860. At step 722, the client system 830 b maydetermine a type of network it is connected to and determine that anamount of data usage allowed for this network is getting low. The clientsystem 830 b may switch to receiving the media stream in the audioformat to save data and send information corresponding to this switch tothe social-networking system. In response to such information, althoughthe social-networking system 860 still receives the media streamcomprising both video and audio data from the client system 830 a atstep 723 a, it may send only the audio component of the media stream tothe client system 830 b at step 723 b. At step 724, the client system830 a may determine that the bandwidth of a network connectionassociated with the client system 830 a drops below a threshold valueand such a bandwidth is not enough to sustain smooth transmission ofvideo data to the social-networking system 860 in real time. The clientsystem 830 a may thereby switch the live-broadcast session to the audiomode. At step 725 a, the client system 830 a may send a media streamcomprising only audio data to the social-networking system 860. At step725 b, the social-networking system 860 has no choice but to forward theaudio-only media stream to the client system 830 b. At this point, oneor more client systems associated with one or more other viewing usersmay be forced to switch to an audio mode because a video stream is nolonger available.

Particular embodiments may repeat one or more steps of the method ofFIG. 7B, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes andillustrates particular steps of the method of FIG. 7B as occurring in aparticular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of themethod of FIG. 7B occurring in any suitable order. Moreover, althoughthis disclosure describes and illustrates an example method foradjusting a format of a media stream associated with a live-broadcastsession including the particular steps of the method of FIG. 7B, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable method for adjusting a format of amedia stream associated with a live-broadcast session including anysuitable steps, which may include all, some, or none of the steps of themethod of FIG. 7B, where appropriate. Furthermore, although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates particular components, devices, orsystems carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG. 7B, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitablecomponents, devices, or systems carrying out any suitable steps of themethod of FIG. 7B.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example network environment 800 associated with asocial-networking system. Network environment 800 includes a clientsystem 830, a social-networking system 860, and a third-party system 870connected to each other by a network 810. Although FIG. 8 illustrates aparticular arrangement of client system 830, social-networking system860, third-party system 870, and network 810, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable arrangement of client system 830,social-networking system 860, third-party system 870, and network 810.As an example and not by way of limitation, two or more of client system830, social-networking system 860, and third-party system 870 may beconnected to each other directly, bypassing network 810. As anotherexample, two or more of client system 830, social-networking system 860,and third-party system 870 may be physically or logically co-locatedwith each other in whole or in part. Moreover, although FIG. 8illustrates a particular number of client systems 830, social-networkingsystems 860, third-party systems 870, and networks 810, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable number of client systems 830,social-networking systems 860, third-party systems 870, and networks810. As an example and not by way of limitation, network environment 800may include multiple client system 830, social-networking systems 860,third-party systems 870, and networks 810.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable network 810. As an example andnot by way of limitation, one or more portions of network 810 mayinclude an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN), a cellular telephone network, or a combinationof two or more of these. Network 810 may include one or more networks810.

Links 850 may connect client system 830, social-networking system 860,and third-party system 870 to communication network 810 or to eachother. This disclosure contemplates any suitable links 850. Inparticular embodiments, one or more links 850 include one or morewireline (such as for example Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Data OverCable Service Interface Specification (DOC SIS)), wireless (such as forexample Wi-Fi or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX)), or optical (such as for example Synchronous Optical Network(SONET) or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)) links. In particularembodiments, one or more links 850 each include an ad hoc network, anintranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, a WLAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a MAN, aportion of the Internet, a portion of the PSTN, a cellulartechnology-based network, a satellite communications technology-basednetwork, another link 850, or a combination of two or more such links850. Links 850 need not necessarily be the same throughout networkenvironment 800. One or more first links 850 may differ in one or morerespects from one or more second links 850.

In particular embodiments, client system 830 may be an electronic deviceincluding hardware, software, or embedded logic components or acombination of two or more such components and capable of carrying outthe appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by clientsystem 830. As an example and not by way of limitation, a client system830 may include a computer system such as a desktop computer, notebookor laptop computer, netbook, a tablet computer, e-book reader, GPSdevice, camera, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld electronicdevice, cellular telephone, smartphone, augmented/virtual realitydevice, other suitable electronic device, or any suitable combinationthereof. This disclosure contemplates any suitable client systems 830. Aclient system 830 may enable a network user at client system 830 toaccess network 810. A client system 830 may enable its user tocommunicate with other users at other client systems 830.

In particular embodiments, client system 830 may include a web browser832, such as MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, GOOGLE CHROME or MOZILLAFIREFOX, and may have one or more add-ons, plug-ins, or otherextensions, such as TOOLBAR or YAHOO TOOLBAR. A user at client system830 may enter a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other addressdirecting the web browser 832 to a particular server (such as server862, or a server associated with a third-party system 870), and the webbrowser 832 may generate a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requestand communicate the HTTP request to server. The server may accept theHTTP request and communicate to client system 830 one or more Hyper TextMarkup Language (HTML) files responsive to the HTTP request. Clientsystem 830 may render a webpage based on the HTML files from the serverfor presentation to the user. This disclosure contemplates any suitablewebpage files. As an example and not by way of limitation, webpages mayrender from HTML files, Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language (XHTML)files, or Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, according toparticular needs. Such pages may also execute scripts such as, forexample and without limitation, those written in JAVASCRIPT, JAVA,MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT, combinations of markup language and scripts suchas AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT and XML), and the like. Herein,reference to a webpage encompasses one or more corresponding webpagefiles (which a browser may use to render the webpage) and vice versa,where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may be anetwork-addressable computing system that can host an online socialnetwork. Social-networking system 860 may generate, store, receive, andsend social-networking data, such as, for example, user-profile data,concept-profile data, social-graph information, or other suitable datarelated to the online social network. Social-networking system 860 maybe accessed by the other components of network environment 800 eitherdirectly or via network 810. As an example and not by way of limitation,client system 830 may access social-networking system 860 using a webbrowser 832, or a native application associated with social-networkingsystem 860 (e.g., a mobile social-networking application, a messagingapplication, another suitable application, or any combination thereof)either directly or via network 810. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may include one or more servers 862. Eachserver 862 may be a unitary server or a distributed server spanningmultiple computers or multiple datacenters. Servers 862 may be ofvarious types, such as, for example and without limitation, web server,news server, mail server, message server, advertising server, fileserver, application server, exchange server, database server, proxyserver, another server suitable for performing functions or processesdescribed herein, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments,each server 862 may include hardware, software, or embedded logiccomponents or a combination of two or more such components for carryingout the appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by server862. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may includeone or more data stores 864. Data stores 864 may be used to storevarious types of information. In particular embodiments, the informationstored in data stores 864 may be organized according to specific datastructures. In particular embodiments, each data store 864 may be arelational, columnar, correlation, or other suitable database. Althoughthis disclosure describes or illustrates particular types of databases,this disclosure contemplates any suitable types of databases. Particularembodiments may provide interfaces that enable a client system 830, asocial-networking system 860, or a third-party system 870 to manage,retrieve, modify, add, or delete, the information stored in data store864.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may store one ormore social graphs in one or more data stores 864. In particularembodiments, a social graph may include multiple nodes—which may includemultiple user nodes (each corresponding to a particular user) ormultiple concept nodes (each corresponding to a particular concept)—andmultiple edges connecting the nodes. Social-networking system 860 mayprovide users of the online social network the ability to communicateand interact with other users. In particular embodiments, users may jointhe online social network via social-networking system 860 and then addconnections (e.g., relationships) to a number of other users ofsocial-networking system 860 to whom they want to be connected. Herein,the term “friend” may refer to any other user of social-networkingsystem 860 with whom a user has formed a connection, association, orrelationship via social-networking system 860.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may provideusers with the ability to take actions on various types of items orobjects, supported by social-networking system 860. As an example andnot by way of limitation, the items and objects may include groups orsocial networks to which users of social-networking system 860 maybelong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested,computer-based applications that a user may use, transactions that allowusers to buy or sell items via the service, interactions withadvertisements that a user may perform, or other suitable items orobjects. A user may interact with anything that is capable of beingrepresented in social-networking system 860 or by an external system ofthird-party system 870, which is separate from social-networking system860 and coupled to social-networking system 860 via a network 810.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may be capableof linking a variety of entities. As an example and not by way oflimitation, social-networking system 860 may enable users to interactwith each other as well as receive content from third-party systems 870or other entities, or to allow users to interact with these entitiesthrough an application programming interfaces (API) or othercommunication channels.

In particular embodiments, a third-party system 870 may include one ormore types of servers, one or more data stores, one or more interfaces,including but not limited to APIs, one or more web services, one or morecontent sources, one or more networks, or any other suitable components,e.g., that servers may communicate with. A third-party system 870 may beoperated by a different entity from an entity operatingsocial-networking system 860. In particular embodiments, however,social-networking system 860 and third-party systems 870 may operate inconjunction with each other to provide social-networking services tousers of social-networking system 860 or third-party systems 870. Inthis sense, social-networking system 860 may provide a platform, orbackbone, which other systems, such as third-party systems 870, may useto provide social-networking services and functionality to users acrossthe Internet.

In particular embodiments, a third-party system 870 may include athird-party content object provider. A third-party content objectprovider may include one or more sources of content objects, which maybe communicated to a client system 830. As an example and not by way oflimitation, content objects may include information regarding things oractivities of interest to the user, such as, for example, movie showtimes, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, restaurant menus, productinformation and reviews, or other suitable information. As anotherexample and not by way of limitation, content objects may includeincentive content objects, such as coupons, discount tickets, giftcertificates, or other suitable incentive objects.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 also includesuser-generated content objects, which may enhance a user's interactionswith social-networking system 860. User-generated content may includeanything a user can add, upload, send, or “post” to social-networkingsystem 860. As an example and not by way of limitation, a usercommunicates posts to social-networking system 860 from a client system830. Posts may include data such as status updates or other textualdata, location information, photos, videos, links, music or othersimilar data or media. Content may also be added to social-networkingsystem 860 by a third-party through a “communication channel,” such as anewsfeed or stream.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may include avariety of servers, sub-systems, programs, modules, logs, and datastores. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 mayinclude one or more of the following: a web server, action logger,API-request server, relevance-and-ranking engine, content-objectclassifier, notification controller, action log,third-party-content-object-exposure log, inference module,authorization/privacy server, search module, advertisement-targetingmodule, user-interface module, user-profile store, connection store,third-party content store, or location store. Social-networking system860 may also include suitable components such as network interfaces,security mechanisms, load balancers, failover servers,management-and-network-operations consoles, other suitable components,or any suitable combination thereof. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may include one or more user-profile storesfor storing user profiles. A user profile may include, for example,biographic information, demographic information, behavioral information,social information, or other types of descriptive information, such aswork experience, educational history, hobbies or preferences, interests,affinities, or location. Interest information may include interestsrelated to one or more categories. Categories may be general orspecific. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user “likes”an article about a brand of shoes the category may be the brand, or thegeneral category of “shoes” or “clothing.” A connection store may beused for storing connection information about users. The connectioninformation may indicate users who have similar or common workexperience, group memberships, hobbies, educational history, or are inany way related or share common attributes. The connection informationmay also include user-defined connections between different users andcontent (both internal and external). A web server may be used forlinking social-networking system 860 to one or more client systems 830or one or more third-party system 870 via network 810. The web servermay include a mail server or other messaging functionality for receivingand routing messages between social-networking system 860 and one ormore client systems 830. An API-request server may allow a third-partysystem 870 to access information from social-networking system 860 bycalling one or more APIs. An action logger may be used to receivecommunications from a web server about a user's actions on or offsocial-networking system 860. In conjunction with the action log, athird-party-content-object log may be maintained of user exposures tothird-party-content objects. A notification controller may provideinformation regarding content objects to a client system 830.Information may be pushed to a client system 830 as notifications, orinformation may be pulled from client system 830 responsive to a requestreceived from client system 830. Authorization servers may be used toenforce one or more privacy settings of the users of social-networkingsystem 860. A privacy setting of a user determines how particularinformation associated with a user can be shared. The authorizationserver may allow users to opt in to or opt out of having their actionslogged by social-networking system 860 or shared with other systems(e.g., third-party system 870), such as, for example, by settingappropriate privacy settings. Third-party-content-object stores may beused to store content objects received from third parties, such as athird-party system 870. Location stores may be used for storing locationinformation received from client systems 830 associated with users.Advertisement-pricing modules may combine social information, thecurrent time, location information, or other suitable information toprovide relevant advertisements, in the form of notifications, to auser.

FIG. 9 illustrates example social graph 900. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may store one or more social graphs 900 inone or more data stores. In particular embodiments, social graph 900 mayinclude multiple nodes—which may include multiple user nodes 902 ormultiple concept nodes 904—and multiple edges 906 connecting the nodes.Example social graph 900 illustrated in FIG. 9 is shown, for didacticpurposes, in a two-dimensional visual map representation. In particularembodiments, a social-networking system 860, client system 830, orthird-party system 870 may access social graph 900 and relatedsocial-graph information for suitable applications. The nodes and edgesof social graph 900 may be stored as data objects, for example, in adata store (such as a social-graph database). Such a data store mayinclude one or more searchable or queryable indexes of nodes or edges ofsocial graph 900.

In particular embodiments, a user node 902 may correspond to a user ofsocial-networking system 860. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a user may be an individual (human user), an entity (e.g.,an enterprise, business, or third-party application), or a group (e.g.,of individuals or entities) that interacts or communicates with or oversocial-networking system 860. In particular embodiments, when a userregisters for an account with social-networking system 860,social-networking system 860 may create a user node 902 corresponding tothe user, and store the user node 902 in one or more data stores. Usersand user nodes 902 described herein may, where appropriate, refer toregistered users and user nodes 902 associated with registered users. Inaddition or as an alternative, users and user nodes 902 described hereinmay, where appropriate, refer to users that have not registered withsocial-networking system 860. In particular embodiments, a user node 902may be associated with information provided by a user or informationgathered by various systems, including social-networking system 860. Asan example and not by way of limitation, a user may provide his or hername, profile picture, contact information, birth date, sex, maritalstatus, family status, employment, education background, preferences,interests, or other demographic information. In particular embodiments,a user node 902 may be associated with one or more data objectscorresponding to information associated with a user. In particularembodiments, a user node 902 may correspond to one or more webpages.

In particular embodiments, a concept node 904 may correspond to aconcept. As an example and not by way of limitation, a concept maycorrespond to a place (such as, for example, a movie theater,restaurant, landmark, or city); a website (such as, for example, awebsite associated with social-network system 860 or a third-partywebsite associated with a web-application server); an entity (such as,for example, a person, business, group, sports team, or celebrity); aresource (such as, for example, an audio file, video file, digitalphoto, text file, structured document, or application) which may belocated within social-networking system 860 or on an external server,such as a web-application server; real or intellectual property (suchas, for example, a sculpture, painting, movie, game, song, idea,photograph, or written work); a game; an activity; an idea or theory; anobject in a augmented/virtual reality environment; another suitableconcept; or two or more such concepts. A concept node 904 may beassociated with information of a concept provided by a user orinformation gathered by various systems, including social-networkingsystem 860. As an example and not by way of limitation, information of aconcept may include a name or a title; one or more images (e.g., animage of the cover page of a book); a location (e.g., an address or ageographical location); a website (which may be associated with a URL);contact information (e.g., a phone number or an email address); othersuitable concept information; or any suitable combination of suchinformation. In particular embodiments, a concept node 904 may beassociated with one or more data objects corresponding to informationassociated with concept node 904. In particular embodiments, a conceptnode 904 may correspond to one or more webpages.

In particular embodiments, a node in social graph 900 may represent orbe represented by a webpage (which may be referred to as a “profilepage”). Profile pages may be hosted by or accessible tosocial-networking system 860. Profile pages may also be hosted onthird-party websites associated with a third-party system 870. As anexample and not by way of limitation, a profile page corresponding to aparticular external webpage may be the particular external webpage andthe profile page may correspond to a particular concept node 904.Profile pages may be viewable by all or a selected subset of otherusers. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user node 902 mayhave a corresponding user-profile page in which the corresponding usermay add content, make declarations, or otherwise express himself orherself. As another example and not by way of limitation, a concept node904 may have a corresponding concept-profile page in which one or moreusers may add content, make declarations, or express themselves,particularly in relation to the concept corresponding to concept node904.

In particular embodiments, a concept node 904 may represent athird-party webpage or resource hosted by a third-party system 870. Thethird-party webpage or resource may include, among other elements,content, a selectable or other icon, or other inter-actable object(which may be implemented, for example, in JavaScript, AJAX, or PHPcodes) representing an action or activity. As an example and not by wayof limitation, a third-party webpage may include a selectable icon suchas “like,” “check-in,” “eat,” “recommend,” or another suitable action oractivity. A user viewing the third-party webpage may perform an actionby selecting one of the icons (e.g., “check-in”), causing a clientsystem 830 to send to social-networking system 860 a message indicatingthe user's action. In response to the message, social-networking system860 may create an edge (e.g., a check-in-type edge) between a user node902 corresponding to the user and a concept node 904 corresponding tothe third-party webpage or resource and store edge 906 in one or moredata stores.

In particular embodiments, a pair of nodes in social graph 900 may beconnected to each other by one or more edges 906. An edge 906 connectinga pair of nodes may represent a relationship between the pair of nodes.In particular embodiments, an edge 906 may include or represent one ormore data objects or attributes corresponding to the relationshipbetween a pair of nodes. As an example and not by way of limitation, afirst user may indicate that a second user is a “friend” of the firstuser. In response to this indication, social-networking system 860 maysend a “friend request” to the second user. If the second user confirmsthe “friend request,” social-networking system 860 may create an edge906 connecting the first user's user node 902 to the second user's usernode 902 in social graph 900 and store edge 906 as social-graphinformation in one or more of data stores 864. In the example of FIG. 9,social graph 900 includes an edge 906 indicating a friend relationbetween user nodes 902 of user “A” and user “B” and an edge indicating afriend relation between user nodes 902 of user “C” and user “B.”Although this disclosure describes or illustrates particular edges 906with particular attributes connecting particular user nodes 902, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable edges 906 with any suitableattributes connecting user nodes 902. As an example and not by way oflimitation, an edge 906 may represent a friendship, family relationship,business or employment relationship, fan relationship (including, e.g.,liking, etc.), follower relationship, visitor relationship (including,e.g., accessing, viewing, checking-in, sharing, etc.), subscriberrelationship, superior/subordinate relationship, reciprocalrelationship, non-reciprocal relationship, another suitable type ofrelationship, or two or more such relationships. Moreover, although thisdisclosure generally describes nodes as being connected, this disclosurealso describes users or concepts as being connected. Herein, referencesto users or concepts being connected may, where appropriate, refer tothe nodes corresponding to those users or concepts being connected insocial graph 900 by one or more edges 906.

In particular embodiments, an edge 906 between a user node 902 and aconcept node 904 may represent a particular action or activity performedby a user associated with user node 902 toward a concept associated witha concept node 904. As an example and not by way of limitation, asillustrated in FIG. 9, a user may “like,” “attended,” “played,”“listened,” “cooked,” “worked at,” or “watched” a concept, each of whichmay correspond to an edge type or subtype. A concept-profile pagecorresponding to a concept node 904 may include, for example, aselectable “check in” icon (such as, for example, a clickable “check in”icon) or a selectable “add to favorites” icon. Similarly, after a userclicks these icons, social-networking system 860 may create a “favorite”edge or a “check in” edge in response to a user's action correspondingto a respective action. As another example and not by way of limitation,a user (user “C”) may listen to a particular song (“Imagine”) using aparticular application (SPOTIFY, which is an online music application).In this case, social-networking system 860 may create a “listened” edge906 and a “used” edge (as illustrated in FIG. 9) between user nodes 902corresponding to the user and concept nodes 904 corresponding to thesong and application to indicate that the user listened to the song andused the application. Moreover, social-networking system 860 may createa “played” edge 906 (as illustrated in FIG. 9) between concept nodes 904corresponding to the song and the application to indicate that theparticular song was played by the particular application. In this case,“played” edge 906 corresponds to an action performed by an externalapplication (SPOTIFY) on an external audio file (the song “Imagine”).Although this disclosure describes particular edges 906 with particularattributes connecting user nodes 902 and concept nodes 904, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable edges 906 with any suitableattributes connecting user nodes 902 and concept nodes 904. Moreover,although this disclosure describes edges between a user node 902 and aconcept node 904 representing a single relationship, this disclosurecontemplates edges between a user node 902 and a concept node 904representing one or more relationships. As an example and not by way oflimitation, an edge 906 may represent both that a user likes and hasused at a particular concept. Alternatively, another edge 906 mayrepresent each type of relationship (or multiples of a singlerelationship) between a user node 902 and a concept node 904 (asillustrated in FIG. 9 between user node 902 for user “E” and conceptnode 904 for “SPOTIFY”).

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may create anedge 906 between a user node 902 and a concept node 904 in social graph900. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user viewing aconcept-profile page (such as, for example, by using a web browser or aspecial-purpose application hosted by the user's client system 830) mayindicate that he or she likes the concept represented by the conceptnode 904 by clicking or selecting a “Like” icon, which may cause theuser's client system 830 to send to social-networking system 860 amessage indicating the user's liking of the concept associated with theconcept-profile page. In response to the message, social-networkingsystem 860 may create an edge 906 between user node 902 associated withthe user and concept node 904, as illustrated by “like” edge 906 betweenthe user and concept node 904. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may store an edge 906 in one or more datastores. In particular embodiments, an edge 906 may be automaticallyformed by social-networking system 860 in response to a particular useraction. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a first useruploads a picture, watches a movie, or listens to a song, an edge 906may be formed between user node 902 corresponding to the first user andconcept nodes 904 corresponding to those concepts. Although thisdisclosure describes forming particular edges 906 in particular manners,this disclosure contemplates forming any suitable edges 906 in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may determinethe social-graph affinity (which may be referred to herein as“affinity”) of various social-graph entities for each other. Affinitymay represent the strength of a relationship or level of interestbetween particular objects associated with the online social network,such as users, concepts, content, actions, advertisements, other objectsassociated with the online social network, or any suitable combinationthereof. Affinity may also be determined with respect to objectsassociated with third-party systems 870 or other suitable systems. Anoverall affinity for a social-graph entity for each user, subjectmatter, or type of content may be established. The overall affinity maychange based on continued monitoring of the actions or relationshipsassociated with the social-graph entity. Although this disclosuredescribes determining particular affinities in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates determining any suitable affinities in anysuitable manner.

[87] In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may measureor quantify social-graph affinity using an affinity coefficient (whichmay be referred to herein as “coefficient”). The coefficient mayrepresent or quantify the strength of a relationship between particularobjects associated with the online social network. The coefficient mayalso represent a probability or function that measures a predictedprobability that a user will perform a particular action based on theuser's interest in the action. In this way, a user's future actions maybe predicted based on the user's prior actions, where the coefficientmay be calculated at least in part on the history of the user's actions.Coefficients may be used to predict any number of actions, which may bewithin or outside of the online social network. As an example and not byway of limitation, these actions may include various types ofcommunications, such as sending messages, posting content, or commentingon content; various types of observation actions, such as accessing orviewing profile pages, media, or other suitable content; various typesof coincidence information about two or more social-graph entities, suchas being in the same group, tagged in the same photograph, checked-in atthe same location, or attending the same event; or other suitableactions. Although this disclosure describes measuring affinity in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates measuring affinity inany suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may use avariety of factors to calculate a coefficient. These factors mayinclude, for example, user actions, types of relationships betweenobjects, location information, other suitable factors, or anycombination thereof. In particular embodiments, different factors may beweighted differently when calculating the coefficient. The weights foreach factor may be static or the weights may change according to, forexample, the user, the type of relationship, the type of action, theuser's location, and so forth. Ratings for the factors may be combinedaccording to their weights to determine an overall coefficient for theuser. As an example and not by way of limitation, particular useractions may be assigned both a rating and a weight while a relationshipassociated with the particular user action is assigned a rating and acorrelating weight (e.g., so the weights total 100%). To calculate thecoefficient of a user towards a particular object, the rating assignedto the user's actions may comprise, for example, 60% of the overallcoefficient, while the relationship between the user and the object maycomprise 40% of the overall coefficient. In particular embodiments, thesocial-networking system 860 may consider a variety of variables whendetermining weights for various factors used to calculate a coefficient,such as, for example, the time since information was accessed, decayfactors, frequency of access, relationship to information orrelationship to the object about which information was accessed,relationship to social-graph entities connected to the object, short- orlong-term averages of user actions, user feedback, other suitablevariables, or any combination thereof. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a coefficient may include a decay factor that causes thestrength of the signal provided by particular actions to decay withtime, such that more recent actions are more relevant when calculatingthe coefficient. The ratings and weights may be continuously updatedbased on continued tracking of the actions upon which the coefficient isbased. Any type of process or algorithm may be employed for assigning,combining, averaging, and so forth the ratings for each factor and theweights assigned to the factors. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may determine coefficients usingmachine-learning algorithms trained on historical actions and past userresponses, or data farmed from users by exposing them to various optionsand measuring responses. Although this disclosure describes calculatingcoefficients in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplatescalculating coefficients in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may calculate acoefficient based on a user's actions. Social-networking system 860 maymonitor such actions on the online social network, on a third-partysystem 870, on other suitable systems, or any combination thereof. Anysuitable type of user actions may be tracked or monitored. Typical useractions include viewing profile pages, creating or posting content,interacting with content, tagging or being tagged in images, joininggroups, listing and confirming attendance at events, checking-in atlocations, liking particular pages, creating pages, and performing othertasks that facilitate social action. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may calculate a coefficient based on theuser's actions with particular types of content. The content may beassociated with the online social network, a third-party system 870, oranother suitable system. The content may include users, profile pages,posts, news stories, headlines, instant messages, chat roomconversations, emails, advertisements, pictures, video, music, othersuitable objects, or any combination thereof. Social-networking system860 may analyze a user's actions to determine whether one or more of theactions indicate an affinity for subject matter, content, other users,and so forth. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a userfrequently posts content related to “coffee” or variants thereof,social-networking system 860 may determine the user has a highcoefficient with respect to the concept “coffee”. Particular actions ortypes of actions may be assigned a higher weight and/or rating thanother actions, which may affect the overall calculated coefficient. Asan example and not by way of limitation, if a first user emails a seconduser, the weight or the rating for the action may be higher than if thefirst user simply views the user-profile page for the second user.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may calculate acoefficient based on the type of relationship between particularobjects. Referencing the social graph 900, social-networking system 860may analyze the number and/or type of edges 906 connecting particularuser nodes 902 and concept nodes 904 when calculating a coefficient. Asan example and not by way of limitation, user nodes 902 that areconnected by a spouse-type edge (representing that the two users aremarried) may be assigned a higher coefficient than a user nodes 902 thatare connected by a friend-type edge. In other words, depending upon theweights assigned to the actions and relationships for the particularuser, the overall affinity may be determined to be higher for contentabout the user's spouse than for content about the user's friend. Inparticular embodiments, the relationships a user has with another objectmay affect the weights and/or the ratings of the user's actions withrespect to calculating the coefficient for that object. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, if a user is tagged in a first photo, butmerely likes a second photo, social-networking system 860 may determinethat the user has a higher coefficient with respect to the first photothan the second photo because having a tagged-in-type relationship withcontent may be assigned a higher weight and/or rating than having alike-type relationship with content. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may calculate a coefficient for a firstuser based on the relationship one or more second users have with aparticular object. In other words, the connections and coefficientsother users have with an object may affect the first user's coefficientfor the object. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a firstuser is connected to or has a high coefficient for one or more secondusers, and those second users are connected to or have a highcoefficient for a particular object, social-networking system 860 maydetermine that the first user should also have a relatively highcoefficient for the particular object. In particular embodiments, thecoefficient may be based on the degree of separation between particularobjects. The lower coefficient may represent the decreasing likelihoodthat the first user will share an interest in content objects of theuser that is indirectly connected to the first user in the social graph900. As an example and not by way of limitation, social-graph entitiesthat are closer in the social graph 900 (i.e., fewer degrees ofseparation) may have a higher coefficient than entities that are furtherapart in the social graph 900.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may calculate acoefficient based on location information. Objects that aregeographically closer to each other may be considered to be more relatedor of more interest to each other than more distant objects. Inparticular embodiments, the coefficient of a user towards a particularobject may be based on the proximity of the object's location to acurrent location associated with the user (or the location of a clientsystem 830 of the user). A first user may be more interested in otherusers or concepts that are closer to the first user. As an example andnot by way of limitation, if a user is one mile from an airport and twomiles from a gas station, social-networking system 860 may determinethat the user has a higher coefficient for the airport than the gasstation based on the proximity of the airport to the user.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may performparticular actions with respect to a user based on coefficientinformation. Coefficients may be used to predict whether a user willperform a particular action based on the user's interest in the action.A coefficient may be used when generating or presenting any type ofobjects to a user, such as advertisements, search results, news stories,media, messages, notifications, or other suitable objects. Thecoefficient may also be utilized to rank and order such objects, asappropriate. In this way, social-networking system 860 may provideinformation that is relevant to user's interests and currentcircumstances, increasing the likelihood that they will find suchinformation of interest. In particular embodiments, social-networkingsystem 860 may generate content based on coefficient information.Content objects may be provided or selected based on coefficientsspecific to a user. As an example and not by way of limitation, thecoefficient may be used to generate media for the user, where the usermay be presented with media for which the user has a high overallcoefficient with respect to the media object. As another example and notby way of limitation, the coefficient may be used to generateadvertisements for the user, where the user may be presented withadvertisements for which the user has a high overall coefficient withrespect to the advertised object. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may generate search results based oncoefficient information. Search results for a particular user may bescored or ranked based on the coefficient associated with the searchresults with respect to the querying user. As an example and not by wayof limitation, search results corresponding to objects with highercoefficients may be ranked higher on a search-results page than resultscorresponding to objects having lower coefficients.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may calculate acoefficient in response to a request for a coefficient from a particularsystem or process. To predict the likely actions a user may take (or maybe the subject of) in a given situation, any process may request acalculated coefficient for a user. The request may also include a set ofweights to use for various factors used to calculate the coefficient.This request may come from a process running on the online socialnetwork, from a third-party system 870 (e.g., via an API or othercommunication channel), or from another suitable system. In response tothe request, social-networking system 860 may calculate the coefficient(or access the coefficient information if it has previously beencalculated and stored). In particular embodiments, social-networkingsystem 860 may measure an affinity with respect to a particular process.Different processes (both internal and external to the online socialnetwork) may request a coefficient for a particular object or set ofobjects. Social-networking system 860 may provide a measure of affinitythat is relevant to the particular process that requested the measure ofaffinity. In this way, each process receives a measure of affinity thatis tailored for the different context in which the process will use themeasure of affinity.

In connection with social-graph affinity and affinity coefficients,particular embodiments may utilize one or more systems, components,elements, functions, methods, operations, or steps disclosed in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/503093, filed 11 Aug. 2006, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/977027, filed 22 Dec. 2010, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/978265, filed 23 Dec. 2010, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/632869, filed 1 Oct. 2012, each of which isincorporated by reference.

In particular embodiments, one or more of the content objects of theonline social network may be associated with a privacy setting. Theprivacy settings (or “access settings”) for an object may be stored inany suitable manner, such as, for example, in association with theobject, in an index on an authorization server, in another suitablemanner, or any combination thereof. A privacy setting of an object mayspecify how the object (or particular information associated with anobject) can be accessed (e.g., viewed or shared) using the online socialnetwork. Where the privacy settings for an object allow a particularuser to access that object, the object may be described as being“visible” with respect to that user. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a user of the online social network may specify privacysettings for a user-profile page that identify a set of users that mayaccess the work experience information on the user-profile page, thusexcluding other users from accessing the information. In particularembodiments, the privacy settings may specify a “blocked list” of usersthat should not be allowed to access certain information associated withthe object. In other words, the blocked list may specify one or moreusers or entities for which an object is not visible. As an example andnot by way of limitation, a user may specify a set of users that may notaccess photos albums associated with the user, thus excluding thoseusers from accessing the photo albums (while also possibly allowingcertain users not within the set of users to access the photo albums).In particular embodiments, privacy settings may be associated withparticular social-graph elements. Privacy settings of a social-graphelement, such as a node or an edge, may specify how the social-graphelement, information associated with the social-graph element, orcontent objects associated with the social-graph element can be accessedusing the online social network. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a particular concept node 904 corresponding to a particularphoto may have a privacy setting specifying that the photo may only beaccessed by users tagged in the photo and their friends. In particularembodiments, privacy settings may allow users to opt in or opt out ofhaving their actions logged by social-networking system 860 or sharedwith other systems (e.g., third-party system 870). In particularembodiments, the privacy settings associated with an object may specifyany suitable granularity of permitted access or denial of access. As anexample and not by way of limitation, access or denial of access may bespecified for particular users (e.g., only me, my roommates, and myboss), users within a particular degrees-of-separation (e.g., friends,or friends-of-friends), user groups (e.g., the gaming club, my family),user networks (e.g., employees of particular employers, students oralumni of particular university), all users (“public”), no users(“private”), users of third-party systems 870, particular applications(e.g., third-party applications, external websites), other suitableusers or entities, or any combination thereof. Although this disclosuredescribes using particular privacy settings in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates using any suitable privacy settings in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, one or more servers 862 may beauthorization/privacy servers for enforcing privacy settings. Inresponse to a request from a user (or other entity) for a particularobject stored in a data store 864, social-networking system 860 may senda request to the data store 864 for the object. The request may identifythe user associated with the request and may only be sent to the user(or a client system 830 of the user) if the authorization serverdetermines that the user is authorized to access the object based on theprivacy settings associated with the object. If the requesting user isnot authorized to access the object, the authorization server mayprevent the requested object from being retrieved from the data store864, or may prevent the requested object from being sent to the user. Inthe search query context, an object may only be generated as a searchresult if the querying user is authorized to access the object. In otherwords, the object must have a visibility that is visible to the queryinguser. If the object has a visibility that is not visible to the user,the object may be excluded from the search results. Although thisdisclosure describes enforcing privacy settings in a particular manner,this disclosure contemplates enforcing privacy settings in any suitablemanner.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example computer system 1000. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 1000 perform one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 1000 provide functionalitydescribed or illustrated herein. In particular embodiments, softwarerunning on one or more computer systems 1000 performs one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein or providesfunctionality described or illustrated herein. Particular embodimentsinclude one or more portions of one or more computer systems 1000.Herein, reference to a computer system may encompass a computing device,and vice versa, where appropriate. Moreover, reference to a computersystem may encompass one or more computer systems, where appropriate.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable number of computer systems1000. This disclosure contemplates computer system 1000 taking anysuitable physical form. As example and not by way of limitation,computer system 1000 may be an embedded computer system, asystem-on-chip (SOC), a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, forexample, a computer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), adesktop computer system, a laptop or notebook computer system, aninteractive kiosk, a mainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobiletelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a server, a tabletcomputer system, an augmented/virtual reality device, or a combinationof two or more of these. Where appropriate, computer system 1000 mayinclude one or more computer systems 1000; be unitary or distributed;span multiple locations; span multiple machines; span multiple datacenters; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloudcomponents in one or more networks. Where appropriate, one or morecomputer systems 1000 may perform without substantial spatial ortemporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods describedor illustrated herein. As an example and not by way of limitation, oneor more computer systems 1000 may perform in real time or in batch modeone or more steps of one or more methods described or illustratedherein. One or more computer systems 1000 may perform at different timesor at different locations one or more steps of one or more methodsdescribed or illustrated herein, where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, computer system 1000 includes a processor1002, memory 1004, storage 1006, an input/output (I/O) interface 1008, acommunication interface 1010, and a bus 1012. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates a particular computer system having aparticular number of particular components in a particular arrangement,this disclosure contemplates any suitable computer system having anysuitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.

In particular embodiments, processor 1002 includes hardware forexecuting instructions, such as those making up a computer program. Asan example and not by way of limitation, to execute instructions,processor 1002 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internalregister, an internal cache, memory 1004, or storage 1006; decode andexecute them; and then write one or more results to an internalregister, an internal cache, memory 1004, or storage 1006. In particularembodiments, processor 1002 may include one or more internal caches fordata, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplates processor1002 including any suitable number of any suitable internal caches,where appropriate. As an example and not by way of limitation, processor1002 may include one or more instruction caches, one or more datacaches, and one or more translation lookaside buffers (TLBs).Instructions in the instruction caches may be copies of instructions inmemory 1004 or storage 1006, and the instruction caches may speed upretrieval of those instructions by processor 1002. Data in the datacaches may be copies of data in memory 1004 or storage 1006 forinstructions executing at processor 1002 to operate on; the results ofprevious instructions executed at processor 1002 for access bysubsequent instructions executing at processor 1002 or for writing tomemory 1004 or storage 1006; or other suitable data. The data caches mayspeed up read or write operations by processor 1002. The TLBs may speedup virtual-address translation for processor 1002. In particularembodiments, processor 1002 may include one or more internal registersfor data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplatesprocessor 1002 including any suitable number of any suitable internalregisters, where appropriate. Where appropriate, processor 1002 mayinclude one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-coreprocessor; or include one or more processors 1002. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable processor.

In particular embodiments, memory 1004 includes main memory for storinginstructions for processor 1002 to execute or data for processor 1002 tooperate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system1000 may load instructions from storage 1006 or another source (such as,for example, another computer system 1000) to memory 1004. Processor1002 may then load the instructions from memory 1004 to an internalregister or internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 1002may retrieve the instructions from the internal register or internalcache and decode them. During or after execution of the instructions,processor 1002 may write one or more results (which may be intermediateor final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor1002 may then write one or more of those results to memory 1004. Inparticular embodiments, processor 1002 executes only instructions in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 1004 (asopposed to storage 1006 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 1004 (asopposed to storage 1006 or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (whichmay each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor1002 to memory 1004. Bus 1012 may include one or more memory buses, asdescribed below. In particular embodiments, one or more memorymanagement units (MMUs) reside between processor 1002 and memory 1004and facilitate accesses to memory 1004 requested by processor 1002. Inparticular embodiments, memory 1004 includes random access memory (RAM).This RAM may be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate,this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, whereappropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM. Thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable RAM. Memory 1004 may include one ormore memories 1004, where appropriate. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable memory.

In particular embodiments, storage 1006 includes mass storage for dataor instructions. As an example and not by way of limitation, storage1006 may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flashmemory, an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or aUniversal Serial Bus (USB) drive or a combination of two or more ofthese. Storage 1006 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed)media, where appropriate. Storage 1006 may be internal or external tocomputer system 1000, where appropriate. In particular embodiments,storage 1006 is non-volatile, solid-state memory. In particularembodiments, storage 1006 includes read-only memory (ROM). Whereappropriate, this ROM may be mask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM(PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM),electrically alterable ROM (EAROM), or flash memory or a combination oftwo or more of these. This disclosure contemplates mass storage 1006taking any suitable physical form. Storage 1006 may include one or morestorage control units facilitating communication between processor 1002and storage 1006, where appropriate. Where appropriate, storage 1006 mayinclude one or more storages 1006. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates particular storage, this disclosure contemplates anysuitable storage.

In particular embodiments, I/O interface 1008 includes hardware,software, or both, providing one or more interfaces for communicationbetween computer system 1000 and one or more I/O devices. Computersystem 1000 may include one or more of these I/O devices, whereappropriate. One or more of these I/O devices may enable communicationbetween a person and computer system 1000. As an example and not by wayof limitation, an I/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone,monitor, mouse, printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet,touch screen, trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or acombination of two or more of these. An I/O device may include one ormore sensors. This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices andany suitable I/O interfaces 1008 for them. Where appropriate, I/Ointerface 1008 may include one or more device or software driversenabling processor 1002 to drive one or more of these I/O devices. I/Ointerface 1008 may include one or more I/O interfaces 1008, whereappropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates aparticular I/O interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable I/Ointerface.

In particular embodiments, communication interface 1010 includeshardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces forcommunication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) betweencomputer system 1000 and one or more other computer systems 1000 or oneor more networks. As an example and not by way of limitation,communication interface 1010 may include a network interface controller(NIC) or network adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or otherwire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter forcommunicating with a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. Thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitablecommunication interface 1010 for it. As an example and not by way oflimitation, computer system 1000 may communicate with an ad hoc network,a personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or moreportions of the Internet or a combination of two or more of these. Oneor more portions of one or more of these networks may be wired orwireless. As an example, computer system 1000 may communicate with awireless PAN (WPAN) (such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FInetwork, a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, forexample, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network), orother suitable wireless network or a combination of two or more ofthese. Computer system 1000 may include any suitable communicationinterface 1010 for any of these networks, where appropriate.Communication interface 1010 may include one or more communicationinterfaces 1010, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates a particular communication interface, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable communication interface.

In particular embodiments, bus 1012 includes hardware, software, or bothcoupling components of computer system 1000 to each other. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, bus 1012 may include an AcceleratedGraphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry StandardArchitecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT)interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBANDinterconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro ChannelArchitecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, aPCI-Express (PCIe) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, oranother suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. Bus 1012may include one or more buses 1012, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.

Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media mayinclude one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits(ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) orapplication-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid harddrives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs),magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppydisk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs),RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitablecomputer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitablecombination of two or more of these, where appropriate. Acomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile,non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, whereappropriate.

Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicatedotherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A or B”means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicatedotherwise by context. Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unlessexpressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,”unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.

The scope of this disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions,variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodimentsdescribed or illustrated herein that a person having ordinary skill inthe art would comprehend. The scope of this disclosure is not limited tothe example embodiments described or illustrated herein. Moreover,although this disclosure describes and illustrates respectiveembodiments herein as including particular components, elements,feature, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments mayinclude any combination or permutation of any of the components,elements, features, functions, operations, or steps described orillustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in theart would comprehend. Furthermore, reference in the appended claims toan apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system beingadapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operableto, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses thatapparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particularfunction is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as thatapparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable,configured, enabled, operable, or operative. Additionally, although thisdisclosure describes or illustrates particular embodiments as providingparticular advantages, particular embodiments may provide none, some, orall of these advantages.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: by a first client systemassociated with a first user of a social-networking system, sending, tothe social-networking system, information to initiate a live-broadcastsession for distribution of a media stream using the social-networkingsystem; by the first client system, capturing an incoming media streamin association with the live-broadcast session; by the first clientsystem, generating an outgoing media stream based on the incoming mediastream; by the first client system, sending the outgoing media stream tothe social-networking system; and by the first client system, providinginformation to display a user interface associated with thelive-broadcast session, wherein the user interface comprises a visualrepresentation associated with the outgoing media stream.
 2. The methodof claim 1, further comprising determining a format in which to generatethe outgoing media stream based at least in part on: a networkconnectivity status associated with the first client system; or an inputsignal to the first client system indicating selection of a particularformat.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the incoming media streamcomprises audio data and video data, and wherein the generating theoutgoing media stream comprises removing the video data from theincoming media stream and retaining the audio data of the incoming mediastream.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: recording theaudio data and the video data of the incoming media stream; storing therecorded data in one or more data stores associated with the firstclient system; and sending, to the social-networking system for displayin a web interface associated with the first user, a media objectcomprising the stored data associated with the incoming media stream. 5.The method of claim 1, further comprising, by the first client system:receiving, from the social-networking system, instructions to distributethe outgoing media stream to one or more second client systems; andsending the outgoing media stream to the one or more second clientsystems based on the received instructions.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the user interface further comprises reaction informationassociated with one or more second users of the social-networkingsystem.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the reaction informationcomprises: one or more graphic emoticons inputted to one or more of thesecond client systems; one or more comments inputted to one or more ofthe second client systems; or one or more indications of likes by thesecond users.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: measuringone or more bandwidth values associated with a network connection of thefirst client system, each bandwidth value being associated with a timeof its measurement; determining that each of one or more of thebandwidth values within a period of time of a specified length aregreater than a threshold bandwidth value; and switching from generatingthe outgoing media stream in a format not comprising video data togenerating the outgoing media stream in a format comprising video databased at least in part on the determination.
 9. One or morecomputer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software thatis operable when executed to: send, from a first client systemassociated with a first user of a social-networking system to thesocial-networking system, information to initiate a live-broadcastsession for distribution of a media stream using the social-networkingsystem; capture an incoming media stream in association with thelive-broadcast session; generate an outgoing media stream based on theincoming media stream; send the outgoing media stream to thesocial-networking system; and provide information to display a userinterface associated with the live-broadcast session, wherein the userinterface comprises a visual representation associated with the outgoingmedia stream.
 10. The media of claim 9, wherein the software is furtheroperable when executed to determine a format in which to generate theoutgoing media stream based at least in part on: a network connectivitystatus associated with the first client system; or an input signal tothe first client system indicating selection of a particular format. 11.The media of claim 9, wherein the incoming media stream comprises audiodata and video data, and wherein the generating the outgoing mediastream comprises removing the video data from the incoming media streamand retaining the audio data of the incoming media stream.
 12. The mediaof claim 9, wherein the software is further operable when executed to:receive, from the social-networking system, instructions to distributethe outgoing media stream to one or more second client systems; and sendthe outgoing media stream to the one or more second client systems basedon the received instructions.
 13. The media of claim 9, wherein the userinterface further comprises reaction information associated with one ormore second users of the social-networking system.
 14. The media ofclaim 9, wherein the software is further operable when executed to:measure one or more bandwidth values associated with a networkconnection of the first client system, each bandwidth value beingassociated with a time of its measurement; determine that each of one ormore of the bandwidth values within a period of time of a specifiedlength are greater than a threshold bandwidth value; and switch fromgenerating the outgoing media stream in a format not comprising videodata to generating the outgoing media stream in a format comprisingvideo data based at least in part on the determination.
 15. A systemcomprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to theprocessors comprising instructions executable by the processors, theprocessors being operable when executing the instructions to: send, froma first client system associated with a first user of asocial-networking system to the social-networking system, information toinitiate a live-broadcast session for distribution of a media streamusing the social-networking system; capture an incoming media stream inassociation with the live-broadcast session; generate an outgoing mediastream based on the incoming media stream; send the outgoing mediastream to the social-networking system; and provide information todisplay a user interface associated with the live-broadcast session,wherein the user interface comprises a visual representation associatedwith the outgoing media stream.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein theprocessors are further operable when executing the instructions todetermine a format in which to generate the outgoing media stream basedat least in part on: a network connectivity status associated with thefirst client system; or an input signal to the first client systemindicating selection of a particular format.
 17. The system of claim 15,wherein the incoming media stream comprises audio data and video data,and wherein the generating the outgoing media stream comprises removingthe video data from the incoming media stream and retaining the audiodata of the incoming media stream.
 18. The system of claim 15, whereinthe processors are further operable when executing the instructions to:receive, from the social-networking system, instructions to distributethe outgoing media stream to one or more second client systems; and sendthe outgoing media stream to the one or more second client systems basedon the received instructions.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein theuser interface further comprises reaction information associated withone or more second users of the social-networking system.
 20. The systemof claim 15, wherein the processors are further operable when executingthe instructions to: measure one or more bandwidth values associatedwith a network connection of the first client system, each bandwidthvalue being associated with a time of its measurement; determine thateach of one or more of the bandwidth values within a period of time of aspecified length are greater than a threshold bandwidth value; andswitch from generating the outgoing media stream in a format notcomprising video data to generating the outgoing media stream in aformat comprising video data based at least in part on thedetermination.